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Pulse conversation hour helps students process Orlando tragedy

The Pride Student Union’s Pulse conversation hour on Thursday evening began with a reminder from Pride’s executive director Candace Tavares: The recent terror attack on Pulse, an LGBT nightclub in Orlando, was nothing new.

The Pride Student Union’s Pulse conversation hour on Thursday evening began with a reminder from Pride’s executive director Candace Tavares: The recent terror attack on Pulse, an LGBT nightclub in Orlando, was nothing new. In her eyes, it was just one of many murderous acts of hate and violence stretching back decades targeting the LGBT community. She pointed out that in 1973, arson at a New Orleans gay bar killed 32 people, which was – until now – the deadliest attack on the LGBT community in U.S. history.

For two and a half hours that night, dozens of students packed two rooms in the Dunlap Success Center for an evening of soul-searching and reflection over the terror attack in Orlando on June 12, which took 49 lives and injured 53 people.

Roberto Flores, the assistant director of the Pride Student Union, said organizing the event on short notice was challenging. However, Pride was greatly helped by FSU’s Center for Leadership & Social Change as they sought to provide students a space where they could freely express themselves and talk about the difficult issues raised by the tragedy in Orlando.

Flores and Tavares, the Assistant Director and Executive Director of Pride Student Union, address the room at the Pulse conversation hour.(Photo11: Hunter Dyke/FSView)

“It’s a safe space like this that allow you to be who you are and be authentic,” Flores says. “Spaces like this allow people to express themselves as authentically as possible and without that, we can’t prosper in the classroom or contribute to society.”

Students sat in groups ranging in size from six people to a dozen. Then, each group engaged in earnest discussions that touched on LGBT rights, terrorism and gun violence, as well as gender and identity issues. At the end of each discussion, students were invited to share with the entire room.

Small groups of FSU community members, including Student Body President Nathan Molina, sit to discuss and process the events in Orlando.(Photo11: Hunter Dyke/FSView)

When discussing what happened at Pulse, one student said he thought that the LGBT community lost the only space they could claim as truly theirs.

“It might have been the first time these young people felt comfortable with who they were being and their lives were either ended or they will be carrying a trauma for the rest of their lives,” he said. “This was supposed to be a safe space for them. So where do we go to feel safe?”

Another student said that they shouldn’t let violent acts be the backdrop of earnest discussions of LGBT rights, wanting to place the onus on themselves to be more proactive.

“We shouldn’t just wait for a massacre to happen for us to start talking like this,” she said. “We need to make sure we’re creating a world we’re proud to be a part of.”

One graduate student who identifies as queer – and wanted to remain anonymous – said a wellspring of emotions spurred them to share their experience at the conversation hour to help others in the LGBT community know they aren’t alone.

“I feel that sharing my story might be able to help others reflect on their own stories and that they’re not alone,” they said.

Growing up in Greensboro, North Carolina and beginning to struggle with their sexuality at age 14, they said their “traditional parents” and their high school made it exceedingly difficult to fully embrace the real person they were throughout their youth.

“Just trying to come out and be myself, I just wasn’t able to do that as I felt I would be harassed and feel unloved with no one to talk to,” they said. “In high school, I was trying to figure out who I was but it was horrible. I would get called ‘faggot’ a lot and other derogatory names.”

The anonymous student said it was only in college that they became comfortable expressing themselves as queer and found the strength to overcome a battle with anxiety and depression.

“I found more friends that identified with the LGBTQ community and having their support during my struggles made me feel comfortable and safe inside,” they said. “After that, I knew I could do it.”

Their parents, they said, “took forever” to understand their queer identity but they have “come a long way.”

The student took comfort in the high amount of engagement they saw from everyone. But they realize the battle that laying ahead for the LGBT community is one that requires constant action and honest discussions.

Vice President for Student Affairs Mary Coburn also joined the Pulse conversation hour.(Photo11: Hunter Dyke/FSView)

“I appreciated how everyone was engaged. To me, the best way to be an ally is just to listen,” they said. “This is a slow thing, but constantly having these dialogues and open conversations gets more people involved.”